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20 April 2007

Chairperson
Honourable Premier and colleagues in the Executive
Honourable members of the Provincial Legislature
Our Honoured Amakhosi present
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Provincial Public Service Commissioner
Heads of Departments and other leaders in the Public Service
Business leaders
Members of the media
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

Chairperson
Introduction

Part A: Agriculture

It is, indeed, a humbling experience for me to present my inaugural budget speech as the MEC for the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs. I feel privileged in getting an opportunity to convert the ideals of freedom, for which millions of men and women of this country fearlessly fought for, into tangible programmes and deliverables.

But the task that lies ahead for me and our department is a challenging one because the expectations of the masses out there are huge and immense. Indeed, the people want tangible changes now and in their lifetime. When the Premier appointed me to be the political head of this department, he was very frank. He said: "Chief, the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs is in a serious mess and it needs a total turnaround and I want you to lead this process with all the vigour you have." I underestimated what he said, but when I got into this department and subsequently receiving the internal audit report, I realised that Premier Ndebele meant serious business by deploying us to take charge of this department.

For example, the image of this department presently lies in tatters. The damning report I have alluded to has exposed administrative weaknesses and possible contraventions of the Public Finance Management Act. As government we understood the negative sentiments expressed by all members of this house during the debate on the findings of the internal audit report last month, and these sentiments were justified.

Chairperson and honourable members, allow me to sketch out how I propose to present this budget to you and the people of our province. I would first want to reflect on the terrain on which this department finds itself operating and the challenges this presents to us. I will then move to sketch out the policies that have been developed to face the existing challenges head-on. Finally, I will point out in no uncertain terms how the money that has been allocated to this Department would be used to begin to carry out our mandate to improve the lives of our people.

Chairperson, let me first address the issues that have been in the public domain in the recent past by presenting our approach and response to the findings of the internal audit report.

Departmental response to the internal audit findings

Lack of supporting documentation

The internal auditors found that there were unsupported transactions which were similar to the findings of the Auditor-General. Chairperson, this is something that is definitely not acceptable to us and to any institution of government that has to account for the use of public resources. As a member of this house I agree with all members and my colleagues in the Executive Council that this calls for swift corrective action.

My management seated at the gallery and the front of this house, have given me commitment and assurance that we cannot afford to be found wanting on this matter. This is the commitment I pass to this House on their behalf.

Chairperson, of the vouchers verified by Internal Auditors, some serious shortcomings on matters of compliance with the prescripts have been identified and include the following:

* payments were not adequately supported with source documentation, including orders, supplier invoices and delivery notes
* departmental Policy and/or guidelines from Treasury were not followed
* invoices were not always signed, cancelled or stamped "PAID", to reflect that they have been paid, to prevent re-submission for payment and duplicate payments
* journals are not always supported with source documentation or adequate explanations
* commitments are not cleared once payment has been made, namely, the commitment remains open after payment has already been made, and thus, inflating the commitment balance.

Chairperson, the Provincial Executive of which I am a member received a report from us detailing that a number of the departmental key policies of the Agrarian Revolution that were not approved prior to my acceptance of office are now all approved and signed. Included in these policies are the following:

* the indigenous livestock policy
* mechanisation policy
* mentorship policy
* funding policy
* build Operate Train and Transfer (BOTT) policy
* Unsolicited Bid Policy.

Although some of these policies will constantly be reviewed and amended in line with best practice, it was important to approve them. They also form the basis for documents that support payments that are made.

Asset management

Another significant finding was on the lack of asset management. Whilst acknowledging the fact that asset management is a challenge throughout government, it is vital for our department to have an effective asset management system. Our Acting Chief Financial Officer (CFO) has given us a plan indicating that there will be an updated asset register for all classes of assets within the next three months. As part of the first quarter reports to the Portfolio Committees responsible for Agriculture and Environmental issues, we will report progress on this aspect.

Although biological assets are recorded on a separate manual livestock register as found by the Internal Auditors, we have devised a program to better manage biological assets. This includes the fact that biological assets that were not valued and accordingly not disclosed in the 2004/05 and 2005/06 financial statements will now be properly valued. Also, our team will, by the end of June this year, have reconciled all cattle given to beneficiaries; branded them and have a definite number of the stock still held by the department at various locations. Further allocations to beneficiaries will be made only after this process has been concluded.

Suspense accounts

Chairperson when suspense accounts are not cleared, they give a poor sense of the expenditure and projections. Poor suspense account management can also lead to the incidence of fraud and corruption. Again, our Acting CFO has committed to clearing suspense accounts on a monthly basis.

Leave entitlement

Similarly Chairperson, it is bad administration to be unable to support the leave entitlement balance to the value as high as R14,3 million as disclosed in the 2005/06 annual financial statements. We have strengthened the management capacity of our Human Resources Management section. This includes the beefing up of staff in this section both in the form of members of staff and better knowledge in the area. Also, we have ensured that proper filing of documents takes place which is the basis for the management of basic documents such as leave records.

Unauthorised expenditure and irregular expenditure

Chairperson, unauthorised expenditure is a function of bad planning. In a department such as ours, good planning is not only necessary to ensure that we keep within expenditure, but in order to guarantee good results. To this end, we have instructed our Chief Operations Officer (COO) to do the following:

* to create a template for standardised business plans
* ensure that for each of the programmes of the department there are properly costed business plans. Consequently, each business unit will have a business plan for that unit. The budget of each programme will balance to the budget as approved by this House
* to develop a monitoring mechanism that will give early warning in terms of the success or otherwise of the projects
* to ensure that for each project there is a commensurate business plan with its requisite approvals by the Acting Accounting Officer.

Chairperson, we hereby give assurance to this house as we did to the Executive Council that we shall on the basis of proper business plans implement projects on time and within approved budgets. In the short term, we have centralised all procurement and payment to our Head Office in Cedara. Although there may well be some delays, we do however, need to ensure that the payments we make are as a consequence of a proper procurement process and that payments made thereon are in keeping with the provisions of the law.

Over-expenditure

Chairperson until very recently, I was sitting in the benches of this house equally getting surprised how departments can find it so easy to overspend. Having joined this department, I was really surprised that as departments we can overspend like this and in fact not be in a position to explain ourselves out. As mentioned earlier, we will use proper business planning processes to ensure that we keep within the approved budgets for the projects. In the case where there is a need to reprioritise projects, we give an undertaking that there will be commensurate budgets at all times. If we experience difficulties we will always seek advice from our respective Portfolio Committees.

Challenges Facing the Department and the Turnaround Strategy

In keeping with the requirements of the intervention spearheaded by the Provincial Treasury, a Steering Committee which is an Intervention Team has been established to oversee the activities that will lead to the turnaround of the department. This Committee is chaired by the provincial Treasury and include the new accounting officer, officials from the Department, and the representative from the Department of Public Service and Administration. This Committee, amongst other things, will:

* monitor progress on the intervention
* evaluate and advise the Acting Head of Department (HOD) on line function requests that he could not finalise
* approve revised budget allocations resulting from the intervention
* provide guidance on organisational structure and staffing issues and make recommendations to the Executing Authority
* ensure that service delivery on approved projects takes place within prescribed rules and regulations
* consider any other matter requested by the Acting Head of Department
* report progress to the Executive on a regular basis.

Since the appointment of the Intervention Team a number of actions have already taken place. These include:

* blocking of all transaction authorities on Basic Accounting Systems (BAS) whilst taking over the systems control functions
* informing suppliers of possible delays in payments
* withdrawal of all order books in the Department and blocking of all electronic order facilities
* clearing the backlog of payments and suspense accounts
* recovery of outstanding advances from employees
* identification of areas requiring financial assistance and appointment of service providers where necessary
* a moratorium on the filling of posts has been implemented and a new procedure for the unfreezing of essential posts has been developed. Funding with respect to 'direct payments' has been stopped pending a review of each project by a dedicated team.

Preliminary investigations and spot checks revealed a number of gaps in the department's Supply Chain Management (SCM) process and payment system. The whole of the SCM system appears to be ineffective and new committees are being appointed to deal with the backlogs experienced. At the same time the skills levels of the staff in this area need to be enhanced through training, failing which replacements of staff will be made. It has been decided to temporarily centralise all SCM functions under the Acting CFO at Head Office.

It is also the end of the Financial Year which requires active participation to finalise all matters required for the preparation of Annual Financial Statement process which include:

* obtaining all supporting documents for ordinary payments
* obtaining all documents for projects started and/or continued
* implementation of the audit readiness plan
* assisting with compiling the Annual Financial Statements of the department
* drafting of the Acting Accounting Officer Report.

It has emerged from the report that expenditure on programmes is not always aligned with the structures of the department. The Team will urgently ensure that all programmes of the department are correctly linked to minimise misallocations between programmes.

Chairperson, service delivery is hampered not only by inefficiency and incapacity. We are ridding this department of this ill. In addition, as MEC of this department, I wish to say in this house that I would rather remain alone with completely new staff than to accommodate and tolerate any semblance of fraud and corruption. I would like again to give warning to my staff that I want to see a change in attitude to work and towards other staff members. It is not the Department that must adapt to anybody's whims but everyone must contribute to maximal achievement of objectives set by this Government.

Approach and progress of service delivery issues

Whilst the financial management intervention is in place, it is important to ensure that the socio-economic upliftment of the people of this province is not compromised. This department is the primary player in food security, while contributing in the socio-economic development of the province. Most of the projects undertaken by the department are in accordance with the goals endorsed by the President and again emphasised by the Premier. The internal audit has revealed enormous gaps in the handling of these vital projects which can never be allowed if we have to achieve our objective of having a 50% reduction of poverty by 2014.

To achieve this, priority will be given to the following:

* review of mandates to undertake such projects
* the production of business plans must be submitted and such plans must be used for budget purposes
* where required, establish the availability and suitability of agreements with entities and persons and if not available or suitable ensure the conclusion of valid and suitable agreements
* ensure that all checks and balances are in place before any further payments or issues are made to any beneficiary or entity
* ensure that information on projects are provided regularly an accurately.

Approach and progress on human resource issues

Employee remuneration forms a major part of the department's budget and has caused the overspending in recent years. In some programmes the availability of a budget was simply ignored and posts were filled. In other programmes there appears to be insufficient posts available resulting in the budget for that objective being under spent. Chairperson, the entire structure must be overhauled. To that effect I have enlisted support from the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) which is part of the Intervention Team I have alluded to.

The DPSA team will apart from assisting with the recommendation for the filling of urgent posts, do an organisational review of the whole department with due regard to the future service delivery targets. Honourable members, long delays in disciplinary processes immobilise the department. Presently there are senior officials who have been on suspension for almost 18 months on full pay. To me that is totally unacceptable. Therefore, I have already instructed our Legal Services and Labour Relations directorates to advise me as to why I cannot lift these suspensions while the disciplinary inquiry is continuing.

New strategic approach of the department

Chairperson, up to this point we have dealt in the main with the turnaround strategy. I do wish to now turn my attention to the very important programmes of the department that have somehow been overshadowed by the problems we are dealing with. Our department is adopting a more focused, rationalised and programmatic approach to doing its business. Henceforth, we will ensure that there is proper planning with communities and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that our projects yield the desired results. Instances of ploughing out of season and crop failure will be relegated to the past.

I assure you Honourable Members that you will never hear again of mice helping themselves on half-a-million worth of bean crop. Up to now the department has been trying to do a lot of things at the same time, everywhere, with its very limited resources. It has, however, become abundantly clear that attaining the Agrarian Revolution in the province requires a more focused and streamlined approach. It is for this reason that I am announcing the four high impact programmes that the department will be adopting to drive its mandate in the province. These are:

* Mushroom Programme
* Livestock Rehabilitation Programme
* Corridor and Massification Programme
* and lastly Food Security Programme.

We have concentrated our budgets on programmes that we believe will have the greatest economic impact within the shortest possible time. I must hasten to say that our department will not stop its other projects, but they will be better aligned and structured to support these key programmes. Chairperson, allow me to briefly outline these programmes to you:

Livestock Rehabilitation Programme

Honourable Members, 82% of KwaZulu-Natal is suitable for livestock production. It is well documented that livestock and livestock production contribute significantly to KwaZulu-Natal's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It is notable that our communal herders own two thirds of the provincial herd. Despite this, the communal herder's share of the provincial and national beef industry is miniscule. At the same time, South Africa still experiences a domestic under-supply of red meat and currently imports red meat and offal to the value of some R1 billion per annum. It is evident that there is a considerable local market to absorb new market entrants in the livestock industry. Furthermore, there is store of wealth, knowledge and skills in rural communities that need to be harnessed and converted to real economic return.

Chairperson, to exploit this potential, we want to intensify all programs that support livestock rehabilitation, including:

* dip tank rehabilitation, with an emphasis on the support of rural contractors
* veld management
* animal primary health care programmes
* formation of livestock associations and co-operatives
* marketing and value adding
* supply of indigenous livestock.

Our target is to increase commercial participation in livestock to around 20% over the Mid-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period. Chairperson, in the area of veld management, I call upon all Amakhosi, izinduna together with all traditional structures and Livestock Associations to assist in the provision of animal feed through controlled and proper veld management.

Chairperson, we call on members of the public to join the Livestock Associations nearer to them in order to access this programme. The budget allocations in support of the objective of livestock rehabilitation and the development of the commercialised cattle in the communal land sector have been increased to R100 million in the current financial year rising to R130 million and R160 million in the outer years of the MTEF budget cycle.

Corridor development and massification

Although the province of KwaZulu-Natal has a significant agricultural potential, large tracts of land are underutilised. Much of this underdeveloped agricultural potential mostly lies within the previously disadvantaged areas where many of the unemployed live. It is for this reason that the department will intensify its funding to increase crop production in these affected areas. The interventions in this regard will include supporting the following:

* a commodity industry and supply chain management approach to agricultural products that can result in black farmers securing an equitable share of markets
* co-operative development, especially with infrastructure development such as mechanisation, irrigation
* liming, greening, alien weed eradication
* developing appropriate irrigation systems in order to allow emerging farmers to secure year round production of those crops with a high gross margin.

While our massification programmes will continue to concentrate on food security crops such as maize, beans and amadumbe, we will also introduce sub-tropical and 'bio-fuel' crops. In delivering these projects previously, institutional weaknesses and lack of proper community involvement have been identified. We intend to redress those weaknesses in this financial year. Massification and corridor development have been allocated a budget of R200 million in the current financial year rising to R240 million, R300 million in the MTEF budget cycle.

Mushroom Programme

It is calculated that a mushroom per capita consumption of three kilograms (kg) per annum in KwaZulu-Natal would:

* result in an income equivalent to more than R700 million, calculated at R25 per kg or 60% to 70% of current retail prices and without the added value for organic mushroom production
* create more than 58 000 jobs.

Despite the huge potential this programme has, during its piloting phase, it has experienced challenges such as inadequacy of business plans and insufficient local capacity. We therefore intend developing the institutional capacity at Cedara to provide research, training and extension facilities to service a growing mushroom industry in KwaZulu-Natal. This will also entail the production and supply of substrates to farmers.

Our budget will now support:

* the development of a Juncao mushroom base at Cedara
* the establishment of satellite bases (three per annum) within communities
* the development of a mushroom outgrowers' programme
* marketing of the mushroom programme
* the development of primary, secondary and tertiary co-operatives that own and manage the full value chain of a developing mushroom industry.

Food security

Chairperson, currently more than 35% of the population of KwaZulu-Natal are vulnerable to food insecurity. With this province's population of approximately 10,6 million, this means that about 3,5 million people in KwaZulu-Natal go to bed hungry every day. Limited agricultural diversification, low agricultural production in some areas where many people live, high unemployment, poverty, constraints to food distribution, lack of information skills and awareness and poor nutrition and health status all contribute to this sad state of affairs. In order to achieve food security, food must be available, accessible, safe and nutritious and most importantly, it must be affordable.

Chairperson, working in collaboration with other departments, the department is developing a comprehensive strategy which deals with both community food security and household food security. We want to incorporate all our food security projects into one programme which would form part of the Empowerment for Food Security Programme. In this regard we will increase our food security budget to R50 million in the current financial year.

This is a co-funded project between our province and the Flanders Government of Belgium. In this project, our province contributes R33 million over a five year period, whilst the Flanders government contributes approximately R60 million, depending on the exchange rate. The areas which will be targeted at first are:

Umhlabuyalingana and Big 5 False Bay in Umkhanyakude District Municipality, uPhongolo and eDumbe in Zululand District Municipality, Umngeni, Richmond and Msunduzi in Umgungundlovu District Municipality and Vulamehlo and Umuziwabantu in Ugu District Municipality.

Land reform

Chairperson, over the years members of our Agriculture Portfolio Committee have raised particular concerns on land reform and its impact on agriculture in the province. Notwithstanding that Land Reform is a national competence, as Provincial Government we have had to look at how we support land reform initiatives, because the cost of not doing so, is too catastrophic to imagine.

The Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs Honourable Lulu Xingwana has also recognised this reality and therefore appealed to all Members of Executive Councils (MECs) responsible for Agriculture, like myself, to take political caretaker responsibility for land reform in their respective provinces on her behalf.

This will help harmonise the activities of the Provincial Land Reform Office, the Regional Land Claims Commission and those of the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs. This will ensure that public sector partners in agriculture speak with one voice. To this end, I have already started interacting with the Provincial Heads (Acting Chief Director: Provincial Land Reform Office and the Regional Land Claims Commissioner) of the two relevant components of the Department of Land Affairs. In fact, the Legislature, through the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, already invites the participation of Department of Land Affairs on issues relating to land reform in the province. I will soon engage Members of our Portfolio Committee to look at ways of managing this relationship so that they are able to exercise the necessary political oversight in this regard.

In addition to this I am in the process of constituting a Provincial Land Reform Forum which will comprise of different stakeholders involved in land reform issues. These will include our department and other relevant government departments, the Provincial Land Reform Office and non-governmental organisations and lobby groups dealing with land and agriculture issues.

The Forum will also include organised agriculture represented by the KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union (Kwanalu) and the National African Farmers Union (Nafu). Earlier this year I met representatives of both the Nafu, Kwanalu and Landless People's Movement and we agreed that further follow-up meetings would be held in due course.

The immediate challenges that we have to confront are those relating to the completion of restitution claims by 2008, fast-tracking the redistribution programme and finding and implementing effective and efficient mechanisms for protecting the rights of farm-dwellers, including rights to bury their deceased family members.

Training

Chairperson,

One of the greatest challenges facing our department, and one which I intend facing head-on, is that of agricultural education and training. If we are to achieve our goals, we can never overemphasise the significance of capacity building within the sector. Consequently, we will accord training the status of a Flagship Programme.

Our department is spearheading the implementation of the National Agricultural Education and Training Strategy. One of the major initiatives in this regard includes the launching of the provincial Agriculture Education and Training Forum during this financial year. This forum will be our main driver for stakeholder consultation and will assist with the creation of synergies and harmonisation of all our training initiatives.

Chairperson, our Executive Council has given us the necessary support. Together with our management we pledge our willingness to turn the situation around. All we are requesting from this House is your support. We will report to this House on appropriate intervals as I have indicated. Your confidence we will earn, all we request is a chance to start afresh.

Part B: Environment

Chairperson, natural resources are extremely vital to our existence. Our health and well-being are closely linked to the quality of our air, water, soils and biological resources. It is therefore crucial that in pursuit of our development goals we should put our environment first. For, without the environment, there can be no sustainable development. If the economies are to flourish, if the persistent poverty is to be banished, if the well-being of people is to be enhanced, human beings as custodians of the environment must take care of it. Chairperson, I want to assure this house that I am making it my personal mission to ensure that environmental management receives prominence on the government agenda.

To this end, the department has initiated the following:

* environmental education programmes which are seen as critical in ensuring that environmental awareness, environmental knowledge and environmental understanding are inculcated as part of the environmental ethos,
* the Department has emphasised the judicious use of land for agricultural production,
* this department is taking great care that productive agricultural land remains in the hands of farmers as a means of guaranteeing food production for the masses of this province.

Supporting Development in KwaZulu Natal

Chairperson and Honourable Members,

The focus of economic development in South Africa is on expanding economic activities, improving work skills and job creation. The Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (AsgiSA) outlines a set of key economic interventions to act as catalysts to shared and accelerated growth and development. One of the key initiatives is raising the levels of investment in infrastructure, such as provincial and local roads, housing, schools etc.

Furthermore, in his State of the Province Address on the 14 of February this year, the Premier announced a number of key infrastructural developments to take place in the province such as the Dube Trade Port and the King Shaka International Airport, the 2010 soccer stadium at Ethekwini and other developments. This is a very exciting period in the history of our province. However, to attain sustainable development it is very critical that we maintain a balance between economic development and environmental management. Economic development depends on a sustainably managed environment and a sound natural resource base.

The department is already responding to this accelerated rate of development. There are a number of areas of intervention in which the department is involved in order to fast-track development. 'Fast tracking' does not imply compromising any of the legal requirements or mandates of this department or any other organ of State. Fast-tracking means that we need to identify and recognise and then to overcome any obstacles and hurdles through co-operative governance.

Furthermore our department will be hosting a one day conference in the next few weeks. The proposed overall theme of the conference is 'Environmental Management and Sustainable Development'. The purpose of this conference is to revisit, review and refine our experiences in respect of quality service delivery and to engage constructively, effectively and efficiently over what needs to be done in terms of:

* environmentally sustainable development
* fast-tracking/ Facilitating Economic Development
* improving environmental quality
* facilitating environmental empowerment.

Air Quality and Climate Change

Climate change and its effect is a major environmental threat facing the World today. The main concern of climate change is global warming which is based on the 'greenhouse effect'. South Africa is a water-stressed country with a well developed and growing agricultural sector which is sensitive to the effects of climate change. These effects could lead to floods, droughts, rising sea levels, unemployment, increased tropical diseases, water scarcity, famines and decline in agricultural productivity. Although the greatest contributions to global climate change come from the wealthy developed countries, the developing countries face greater challenge in terms of the capacity to respond to it. The most pressing issues Chairperson, is the need to improve the quality of our air as well as adapt to and mitigate against climate change. It is for this reason that our department is embarking on various programmes to deal with this situation.

In order to access the Carbon Equity Centre funding our department has established a partnership to encourage energy efficiency and other climate friendly trends in both the supply and consumption of energy. This is done by promoting access to Carbon Equity Centre (Pace) to establish 'Clean Development Mechanisms' (CDMs) Projects. This project is aimed at converting KwaZulu-Natal's potential for energy efficiency, renewable energy and bio- sequestration into enterprises with attached investment and revenue streams.

The benefits of this project will include the following:

* reduction in gas emissions resulting in improved health
* saving in the cost of energy services for the household beneficiaries
* the creation of jobs through the manufacturing
* installation of technologies and associated infrastructure.

The department is in the process of establishing a Climate Change Adaptation Committee (CCAC) which would formulate and implement provincial programmes to mitigate climate change and facilitate adequate adaptation to climate change.
The department has also commissioned 5 Air Quality Monitoring Stations in Newcastle, Empangeni, Estcourt, Mandeni and Port Shepstone.

Industries demonstrating poor environmental performance especially in the Durban South Industrial Basin and Pietermaritzburg were targeted by our department to ensure compliance with the new Air Quality Act.

Chemical and Waste Management

The effects of waste on the environment are particularly damaging and include the contamination of surface and groundwater resources and soil. Conversely, alternative uses of waste, provides opportunities for job creation and other
business opportunities. Our department has finalised the Waste Management Bill and has begun a consultative process with key stakeholders. Our department is launching various recycling centres to encourage communities to add value to waste materials. The Jozini Recycling Centre is up and running. The grant in aid agreements have been signed for the following recycling projects:

* Umhlathuze: R200 000
* Hibiscus Coast: R200 000
* Endumeni: R235 645.

Coastal Management

During the early hours of 19 March 2007, storms sent massive waves pounding on KwaZulu-Natal beaches, damaging the coastline from St Lucia on the North and Port Edward in the South of the Province. The department together with affected municipalities and other parastatals responded to the situation by assessing the damages. Lots of lessons have been learnt on coastal planning and management of our coastlines.

Due to population pressure, urban development, port and harbour development, mining, water quality and emissions to sea and beach driving, our marine and coastal resources in South Africa are displaying signs of modification and degradation and in some instances destruction. It is for this reason that the department is going to intensify its coastal management programme through the following initiatives:

* Integrated coastal management(ICM) planning,
* ICM implementation/resource use management support,
* Marine pollution management,
* ICM Capacity Building,
* ICM information Management,
* And the Sustainable Coastal Livelihoods Programme.

During this financial year the department will intensify its Invasive Alien Species Programme through the following key initiatives:

* development and finalisation of the Invasive Alien Fauna Strategy
* increasing mapping of the province from 8% to 25% in order to determine the extent of invasion
* to engage with the nurseries and pet industries operative in KwaZulu-Natal as a proactive measure to combat the spread of invasive alien species
* to actively involve Amakhosi and traditional communities in our community projects to ensure sustainability and ownership
* maintain existing clearing operations
* to train schools on invasive alien species, thus increasing awareness in communities.

Part C: Conservation

The province of KwaZulu-Natal is blessed with a range of wildlife and has spectacular landscape with a wealth and diversity of plants and animals to match. It is crucial that we effectively manage the biodiversity conservation in this Province, not only for its scientific value but also its contribution to revenue earning industries including tourism, fishing; medicine and game conservation are dependent on it.

Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife (EKZNW) plays a significant role in local community development, job creation and poverty alleviation. In recent years, it has developed innovative programmes that have resulted in a number of benefits in the communities who neighbour the protected areas. The involvement of local communities is key to the success of EKZNW in bio-diversity conservation management, as they have vested interest in the protected areas from the cultural and spiritual point of view as well as in the economic benefits of such areas.

Corporate Support Services is at the centre of driving business proficiency within Conservation Services. As a result we have set aside a total of R4,680 million for strategic skills development. This budget is for funding bursaries, experiential learning, internships, learnerships, executive development, management development conferences, Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET), training courses and workshops.

R1 million has been allocated to roll out a number of Employee Wellness Programmes, which will include community home-based care, HIV and AIDS Awareness, Voluntary Counselling Training and Peer Education. We will invest approximately R20 million in infrastructure maintenance and upgrades during this financial year. This will include the upgrading of our reserve tourist access roads, camp facilities and fleet management. This also creates employment opportunities for communities and contractors in the vicinity of our reserves. Lastly, R7 million will be invested in Information Technology (IT) infrastructure and other IT-related projects.

Legislation on protected areas requires us to have Integrated Management Plans (IMP). Ten Integrated Management Plans and District Management Plans will be completed in this financial year. Draft Elephant Management Plans are being prepared for Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, Ithala Game Reserve, Tembe Elephant Reserve and Greater St Lucia Wetland Park. The final drafts will be consulted widely. The total amount to be utilised in this project is R877 000. Chairperson, may I now present the 2007/08 budget for the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs per programmes:

* Programme 1: Administration (R145, 689 million)
* Programme 2: Agricultural Development Support Services (R909, 376 million)
* Programme 3: Environmental Management Services (R143, 667 million)
* Programme 4: Conservation (R308, 770 million).

Lastly, Chairperson, I wish to thank the Premier, my colleagues in the Executive, all Honourable Members of this house, the Public Service Commission, my senior management, the staff members, the people of KwaZulu-Natal and most importantly my wife and children who have been very supportive since I joined this department. As you all know this department is facing major challenges but I remain optimistic that despite all these, we will turn the corner as we are convinced that the fundamentals are there and our programmes remain legitimate, we dare not fail the overwhelming majority of the masses of our people who look upon us that we will be able, through our noble programmes, to extricate them from the unforgiving clutches of grinding poverty that permeates across our people particularly those still ensnared in the Second Economy.

I thank you

Issued by: Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
20 April 2007
Source: Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government (http://www.kznact.gov.za)